Speaking of Ukraine… Today is 4 months since Russia’s invasion – and to mark the occasion, Ukraine has been accepted as a candidate to join the European Union. That’s just the start of a long process, but experts say it signifies a significant shift in European politics – and it’s set to irritate President Putin as he tries to stop Ukraine from aligning with the West. For President Zelensky’s part, he’s trying to prevent Russia from taking control of the Donbas. He’s urged Western leaders to speed up the delivery of heavy artillery, saying Russia has launched “massive air and artillery strikes” in their quest to “destroy” his nation’s eastern region. Reports say the bombing is particularly intense in the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk – the last 2 holdouts in Luhansk. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelensky, says the fight there is like “2 boxers grappling with each other in the 18th round of a bout and barely able to move things forward. This operation started on 14 April and has been going on for nearly 80 days,” he said.